New Zealand's top female footballers gathered to celebrate in Wellington last night, after a pay parity deal that sees them on a level financial playing field with the All Whites men's side.
After the landmark deal between New Zealand Football and the NZ Professional Footballers' Association last month, the Football Ferns were hosted in Wellington last night, coming together for the first time since the historic agreement was put into place.
Speaking to 1 NEWS, Football Ferns captain Ali Riley spoke about the significance of the deal, not just for the current side, but for future generations of female footballers.
"This is incredible," she said.
"You can see by the reception we got here, and what they've done tonight, that this is so important - not just for the Football Ferns, but for women in New Zealand, for the whole country.
"To have equality, to have this equal pay and this new agreement means a lot, and so much for the future as well."
Riley continued to speak about the fact that the Football Ferns were now on more of a level playing field with the rest of the footballing world, hopefully translating to results on the pitch in future tournaments.
"Moving forward, for us to be able to compete against the top teams, to be able to do well at a World Cup and the Olympics - this is what we needed."
"To have achieved this means so much, and it's really, really important."
Striker Sarah Gregorius echoed her captain's sentiments, have personally played a huge role in getting the collective agreement over the line.
"I've been involved with the team for over 10 years now, and this is a real step forward in the right direction."
"We've definitely had our ups and downs as a group, with the organisation and things like that.
"If I take a moment to reflect, I just go 'wow', I can't believe we're here, in comparison to where we've come from."
Gregorius also added that the new agreement will offer a new pathway for girls who might have once not considered football as a career option, allowing them to follow their dreams as a fulltime job, both at home and overseas.
"It'll be interesting to see how the game develops, particularly for women, now going into the future."
"With any step forward, it brings new issues to the fore as well.
"Keeping the relationship between New Zealand Football, and the PFA and the players really strong to make sure that anything that comes up that can help us perform better - like this agreement - that we can definitely bring it forwards and work together to make sure that we can do our best, all the time."
The Football Ferns are currently residing in Wellington, preparing to face Japan this Sunday at Westpac Stadium.
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